How much water should I put in my paella?
Introduction
This article is tremendously complex due to the great number of variables that intervene in the consumption of water in the paella, taking into account that the type of fire (gas or firewood), the diameter of the paella pan, the thickness of the layer of rice, the variety of the type of rice used, the ambient temperature and even the altitude and many other factors intervene in an important way at the time of calculating how much water to use in the paella, the ambient temperature and even the altitude and many other factors intervene of important form at the moment of calculating how much water to use in the paella, for this reason, to realize the exact calculation of the necessary water is a very complex task and that we try to simplify to the most important factors for what the calculation will never be able to be 100% exact.
Through this blog entry, we will try to bring the extensive knowledge and experience of many years of several rice masters who have been involved in its drafting, including our technical team, the rice master Ascensión Casero and Carlos Gomez-Senent, creator of lapaella.net, cooking teacher and executive chef in several establishments and rice restaurants in Valencia.
We hope that through this blog entry you will be able to always know how much water you need for your paellas.
How much water should I use in my paella?
When preparing a paella, there are many questions: For how many people? meat, fish, vegetables? variety of rice? how much rice will we need? All these questions have easy solutions, but there is one that is constantly repeated.
How much water should I use in the paella? It is a very important question, because depending on the portions that we want to realize we will need certain proportion of water, in turn, the diameter of the paella also varies the percentage of water that can be needed, similar happens with the power of the fire, whose lack or excess can manipulate the necessary water for our paella. In this blog entry we give you the definitive answer to this question.
What is the measure of rice per diner?
When we are asked how many grams of rice per person for paella, from our own experience, we recommend adding 100 grams of rice per person, of course, this amount may vary for reasons such as if you want to make a soupy or brothy rice, in which case, you should use about 70 grams. You should also take into account that, if it is a single dish, you could use 125 grams. In this explanation, we are going to use the scale of 100 g per person.
The reason why the quantity of rice is important for the measurement of the water is simple; part of the water evaporates in the reduction of the liquid to make the broth and another part by absorption of the rice in its cooking. Therefore it is necessary to know how much rice we are going to use in our paella.
Does the size of the paella and the type of container influence the amount of liquid?
Here is a table of diameters based on the amount of water needed.
It must be taken into account that, before adding the rice to the paella, it is crucial to pre-cook all the cooked ingredients, whether vegetables or meats, for about 5 to 10 minutes.
This period of time allows approximately 2 measures of water to evaporate from the initial 5, which constitutes approximately 20% of the liquid. This is commonly identified with the use of the rivets of the paella, which, previously submerged in the broth, are almost completely uncovered. In case of lacking rivets, an effective way to reproduce this effect is through the paella magnet.
It is at this precise moment when the rice should be added. Start cooking on high heat and then reduce it to medium heat.
It is essential to maintain this temperature so that the first half of the cooking develops gradually, without the rice being visible until approximately 10 minutes after the beginning of the cooking. Then, lower the heat to the minimum possible and continue this way until the end of cooking.
The reason we use these measurements is because of what master rice cooks call the Q1 and Q2.
The Q1 refers to the amount of water remaining, now converted into broth, which we will use when we introduce the rice.
Meanwhile, the Q2 refers to the amount of water we have before adding the rice, part of this water will evaporate during the preparation of the broth.
What proportion of water according to the rice variety?
The amount of broth necessary to make a paella can vary according to the variety of rice used.
Some varieties of rice absorb a higher amount of liquid than others, so it is important to know which variety of rice we are using. The older rices, independently of the variety, will absorb more liquid.
We must take into account that this table is indicating the volume of rice/liquid used to prepare dry rice, that is to say, a paella of fine or Valencian capacity. Larger quantities will require small adjustments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What proportion of water would I need if I make a baked rice?
The proportions necessary to make a baked rice may vary according to the container and temperature of the oven, whether it is gas, wood or steam. Depending on the container, the rice/water ratio may vary as long as the cold broth is included, but it is not affected if it is done by introducing the boiling broth. The measures of broth would be:
1 serving - 1:3 in aluminum containers.
1 portion - 1:2,5 in an earthenware, stoneware or porcelain vessel.
From 4 portions: 1:2 or 1:1,7 will depend on our container. We also include certain vegetables such as peppers or pumpkins as containers.
When we reach 4 portions, the parameters of rice and water stabilize, as long as the container used has the same height, this is because, although we can enlarge the size of the container, increasing the height of this will imply that we will lower the proportion of liquid. As for the temperature required for the recipe, we will continue to use the same temperature.
We emphasize that it is very important that the oven is preheated to 220º c and that the broth used is boiling at the moment of adding the rice. From here, we introduce the rice and cook for 25 minutes at 200º c, then we lower the temperature to 180º c and cook for another 15 minutes.
In case of using cold broth from the beginning, it will take a little longer to heat up, so we will need a smaller amount of broth.
Can the texture of the broth/fumets or the hardness of the water affect my paella?
When we talk about texture in this context, we refer to reduced broths, thicker, which have a high content of collagen, protein, fatty, etc..
It should be noted that a different texture in our broth if it affects our paella, this is because, although it may not seem so, the type of rice that we seek to make has different textures between its different variants, this happens because the different ways of making the recipe seek to use a different broth between them.
A broth rice results in the rice with the highest amount of broth per rice of all the variants, the broth is usually tastier because it is an essential part of the dish.
Meanwhile, a mellow rice stands out for having a thick broth, which is part of the rice itself, this is because the rice is held by the starch of the rice or the fats of the broth.
On the contrary, a dry rice lacks almost all moisture, we can find the right point through an emulsion, that is to say, through a homogeneous mixture of two liquids, in our case, the water and the oil of the broth.
We warn that, if our broth has a high level of collagen, it is advisable to add 20% more, although we must take into account that it will take a little longer to cook.
Interestingly, we have heard of people who think that the hardness of the water affects to some extent the flavor and texture of paella, but we and many others can point out that this is just a myth, which lacks any scientific basis to demonstrate in any way that water hardness actually offers any kind of benefit to paella.
Can fire power have an impact on the amount of water?
Different types of fire can affect the amount of water needed to make our paella.
If we use butane or propane we have the advantage of being able to easily control the power of the fire during the processes of the recipe. This is a great advantage because using too much power will end up evaporating a greater amount of liquid, which implies that a bad control of the power could end up evaporating more liquid than desired.
In the case of using firewood, we will need to use more water than normal, this is due to the fact that the water will evaporate faster when not having a total control of the power of the fire, since it will have a higher calorific power than if we were using gas. We must bear in mind that this does not imply that the proportion of liquid necessary for the cooking of the grain has changed, this proportion will remain the same.
Finally, in the case of using a conventional oven, the amount of liquid will be lower, this is because the power of the oven is lower than the other 2 options, which means that a higher amount of water would take too long to evaporate or be absorbed by the rice and its ingredients.
Does the weather affect our paella?
Although this question may sound unexpected, the reality is that the very environment in which the paella is being prepared can affect its preparation, although it should be noted that it does not do so to a great extent.
If the environment is humid, the broth will evaporate less. If the environment is dry, the evaporation of the broth will be higher.
The real possibility that the environment affects us during the cooking of the paella is, in fact, in the altitude. As we mentioned in a previous blog post, the altitude at which the paella is cooked can change the cooking time.
The lower the atmospheric pressure (which decreases as the altitude increases), the lower the boiling temperature of the water will be because its molecules, being less pressured, find it less difficult to move and move and, as a consequence, the boiling temperature decreases.
Because of this, at an altitude of 1,000 m, water takes longer to start boiling, and also, boiling occurs at 97º, instead of 100º, as is usually the case.
As the boiling temperature is lower, the rice takes a few minutes longer to cook, so evaporation is greater. In short, at a higher altitude, it is necessary to use more liquid and increase the rice cooking time by a few minutes.
What if I add ingredients with high water or other liquid content?
If we add ingredients to our paella that have a high water content, we must take into account that this will also affect the amount of water needed, therefore, we must evaporate well the moisture of the chosen food.
The most appropriate way to eliminate these extra liquids is through stir-frying.
In the case of using wines or liquefied, we will have to deduct that amount of total liquid that we are going to use in our recipe, otherwise, we would be using more liquid than desired or recommended.
We hope that this blog entry will help you to solve your doubts about how much rice and water is needed in paella and rice dishes. Don't forget to visit the rest of our blog to find more guides and recipes, rice cooks!